It’s Friday in Arkansas and that can only mean one thing: we have football games tonight! We’re getting you ready for more exciting moments!

Coming up in today’s newsletter:

🎙️ Getting you ready for Friday Night Lights
📈 What’s trending this week
👀 One to Watch
🏈 Game of the Week

Let’s dive right in!

🎙️ Varsity Vibe Today. After an exciting opening week of High School Football action, the fun continues into Week One. Alyssa Orange and Brey Cook break down the five games they are watching this Friday Night. 

Then, in today’s episode of Varsity Vibe Stories, Kylee Sallee spent the last few years on the Junior Varsity, but now it's a much bigger stage. For the first time in program history, the Bentonville Tigers have a female kicker on their roster. Growing up playing soccer, she started to get interested in kicking on the football team in 7th grade. The rest is history. Her strong leg has gotten her to where she is on the field, but it’s her strong faith that has gotten her through the highs and lows..

🏈 Bryant vs Newton. The Bryant Hornets will host an out-of-state opponent in the Newton (GA) Rams this week. While Bryant has won six of the last seven 7A state championships, the Rams will be a new challenge, as the two teams have never met. Bryant beat Benton in dominant fashion last week, while Newton is coming off of a loss and has a 2-1 record this season.

 💪 Three-way Threat. The Robinson Senators handed Pulaski Academy its first in-state loss in nearly two years, 53-14. Senior Kevin Williams had a standout performance on all sides of the ball, scoring three first-half touchdowns with a pick-six, a 48-yard onside kick return, and a 33-yard rushing touchdown.

🏐 Dogs on Top. The Fayetteville Bulldogs rallied late to claim a 3–1 victory over Bentonville West. Sophomore Kenzy Hogue came in clutch with a kill and block to seal the decisive fourth set, finishing with 12 kills and 8 blocks. Piper Batie added 10 kills and 17 assists as Fayetteville fought back from multiple deficits to hand Bentonville West its first conference loss.

Fayetteville linebacker Will Caston had an impressive performance last Friday, helping the Bulldogs take down Cabot 66-24. The Arkansas commit played a pivotal role in snuffing out Cabot’s momentum going into the second quarter. The Bulldogs were up by a touchdown before Caston jumped a route for a pick-six and added another interception. He also had a sack.

“Will is a guy who we knew what he had, but not a whole lot of people knew about Will,” head coach Casey Dick told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. “He kind of blew up in the summer and started getting attention from schools. But he’s a long, athletic kid, has a lot of range and can run really well.”

The Har-Ber Wildcats look to bounce back this week as they travel to face the Farmington Cardinals. After a 35–14 loss to Broken Arrow in their opener, Har-Ber will be aiming to reset and find consistency throughout the game. Farmington, on the other hand, comes off win against Edmond North 43–42 in a tight season opener.

Farmington’s senior QB Ayden Lester passed for 3,097 yards and 32 touchdowns last year. On top of his passing ability, Lester rushed for 1,007 and had 12 trips to the endzone himself. Har-ber junior QB Brice Owens saw limited action last season, but showed potential against Broken Arrow. The Wildcats and Cardinals will meet at 7 p.m. and the game can be watched here. 

⛹️‍♀️ Performance Athlete of the Week. Making consistent progress is an important part of every young athlete’s journey. Every week, we’re highlighting those who have put the work in to get better. This week, our Performance Athlete of the Week is Farmington junior Emme Rehkopf. Despite overcoming a medical setback that interrupted her workouts, Emme came back stronger. She cut 0.16 seconds off her 20-yard sprint, trimmed 0.09 seconds off her pro agility, and gained 1.12 inches on her broad jump along with 2 more inches on her vertical. Rehkopf commited to North Alabama to play D1 volleybal. To learn more about the program, visit srdathlete.com.

September 5:
🏈 7A/6A Bentonville vs Conway, 7:00 pm
🏈 7A Rogers @ Muskogee (OK), 7:00 pm
🏈 7A Fayetteville vs Broken Arrow (OK), 7:00 pm
🏈 7A Bentonville West @ Cabot, 7:00 pm
🏈 7A Springdale vs Van Buren, 7:00 pm
🏈 7A Heritage @ Carl Junction (MO), 7:00 pm
🏈 7A Bryant vs Newton (GA), 7:00 pm
🏈 7A/5A Har-ber @ Farmington, 7:00 pm

🏈 6A Greenwood @ Northside, 7:00 pm
🏈 6A Siloam Springs @ Alma, 7:00 pm
🏈 6A/5A Mountain Home vs Harrison, 7:00 pm
🏈 6A Shiloh vs Little Rock Christian, 7:00 pm
🏈 6A/5A Jonesboro @ Robinson, 7:00 pm

🏈 5A Pea Ridge vs Gentry, 7:00 pm

👋 Hello There!

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